Fraser Franks

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Franks started his career at Chelsea, but was released as a 16-year-old. He then went into the youth team at Brentford and was named as a substitute againstSwansea City in a League Cup fixture on 12 August 2008.[2] He was again an unused substitute for a 2–1 FA Cup defeat away to Barrow later that year. He signed his first professional contract in 2008, though remained as an unused substitute for the majority of the 2009–10 campaign and failed to make an appearance.

In September 2009, after struggling to feature for the Bees, Franks joined Conference South side Basingstoke Town on an initial one-month loan, which was later extended until January 2010.[3] He made his debut for the club on 19 September 2009 in a 2–1 victory over Braintree Town, and scored in league wins overMaidenhead United and Weymouth. He made a total of 16 competitive appearances for the club.[4] At the end of the 2009–10 season, Franks was not offered a new contract at Brentford and consequently left the club.[5]

In July 2010, Franks signed a one-year contract with Conference Premier club AFC Wimbledon. He made his full debut in a televised game against league leadersCrawley Town on 23 September 2010. AFC Wimbledon won the game 2–1, with Franks claiming the Premier Sports man-of-the-match award.[6] He scored his first goals for the club in a 3–0 victory over Cambridge United a week later.[7] Franks became a regular feature in the Dons promotion-winning side during the 2010–11season, playing in 28 games, though suffered a serious knee ligament injury in a 2–1 defeat to Grimsby Town in March 2011. An operation was required and kept him out of action for six months, causing him to miss the beginning of AFC Wimbledon's first season in the Football League.[8] Despite this, he had played enough games to activate a one-year extension clause in his contract, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2011–12 season.[9]

In September 2011, Franks returned from injury and was sent on loan to Hayes & Yeading United in the league below in order to gain match fitness. He made seven appearances, but turned down the offer to extend the loan for a further month.[10] On 8 November 2011, Franks made his return to the AFC Wimbledon starting line-up away at Swindon Town in a Football League Trophy fixture; the game finished 1–1 with Swindon winning 3–1 on penalties. Franks was the only member of the AFC Wimbledon team to score his penalty.[11] In March 2012, Franks joined Conference Premier side Newport County on loan for one month in order to obtain regular first-team football. However, an injury retricted him to making just one appearance for the club.[12]

After making only four appearances in League Two for AFC Wimbledon, Franks was released in May 2012 at the end of his contract.[13]

In June 2012, Franks signed for Conference South side Welling United.[14]Wings manager Jamie Day claimed Franks had turned down offers from higher leagues in order to be guaranteed regular first-team football.[15] Franks went on to make 43 appearances in all competitions for Welling during the 2012–13 season as the club were crowned Conference South champions, winning promotion to the Conference Premier.[16] Franks was named in the league's Team of the Year and signed a new one-year contract shortly afterwards.[17][18] By January 2014, Franks had made a further 29 appearances for the club as they sat in a comfortable mid-table position.

On 17 January 2014, Franks signed for Conference Premier leaders Luton Town for an undisclosed fee after the club activated a release clause in his contract.[19] Due to bad weather postponing the club's games throughout much of the rest of January 2014, Franks did not make his debut until 11 February 2014 against Macclesfield Town. He was named as man of the match by the The Luton News as Luton won the game 2–1.[20] Franks made 17 appearances for Luton in the second half of the 2013–14 season as the club won the Conference Premier title and promotion to the Football League.[21]

In June 2013, Franks was selected for the England C national team and won his first cap in a 6–1 victory over Bermuda.[22] On 19 November 2013, Franks scored his first international goal in a 2–2 draw with Czech Republic U21, a game in which he also captained the side for the first time.[23]